Hoc Est Bellum
by The Pedantic Lady Pendragon
Summary: Jafar was dead. The land was safe. How wrong they truly were. When another realms war spirals into their own the new Queen of Wonderland and her greatest Ally are forced to intervene and join in arms... With the High King and Queen of Camelot. Old faces from the past return and powerful enemies emerge from the shadows, can Wonderland be saved from darkness again?. Fem!slash.


**Hello all!. Right then this is my first venture into the OUAT fandom as a whole, and as with jumping into all Fandoms it is daunting. I'm a newcomer to OUAT, I've only just started series 3 - which I decided to watch after watching OUATIW. So anyway this is probably waaaaaay off canon and is a continuation of sorts from the end of Wonderland but which also has an alternate path to how they defeated Jafar if you catch my drift.**

 **I love Will and Ana, honestly I do but I decided on something a little different... So it's Femslash, and if that isn't your thing then feel free to flitter away my friends.**

 **And not just that it's also a crossover with one of my favourite shows of all time. BBC Merlin. Now I started writing this about a year ago, soon after Wonderland finished and as soon as I discovered that OUAT was venturing into the Merlin-verse in series 5 I thought I'd get this out here, simply because I'll never be able to see anyone else playing Merlin, Arthur and Morgana etc other than that cast. Though I do hope they have a really good Arc when it begins.**

 **Oh and did I say I suck at summaries.**

 **So without further ado, onto chapter 1.**

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Anastasia was lying on the dirty floor, hair matted and tangled as it hung limply around her face. Grime and blood and bruises littered her porcelain face and her clothing was stained crimson - not out of choice as it was the usual colour attire she wore - but due the blood that seeped out of her many wounds. The rain was drizzling around her but she couldn't feel it.

She knew she didn't have long left, and surprisingly it didn't bother her that much. She knew when she started her little quest of redemption that it would probably end up with her dying. It was a price she was willing to pay for the sins she had committed against these people.

There was only one thing that bothered her about dying though. And that thing was Alice.

She didn't know when it happened. She didn't know when she had gotten so attached to the younger woman. She'd never even considered that she could even harbor any kind of feelings towards her other than hate, which she so frequently conveyed. But over time she had. The hatred had disappeared. The jealousy had disappeared. All of it had slowly been replaced by an emotion she'd only shown or held for another person.

But that person was gone. Her Will was long gone. A sad sigh escaped her lips as she lay on the muddy woodland floor, one hand over the horrific wound in her stomach which was still bleeding profusely. She still remembered the day vividly. The day that Jafar and the Jabberwocky had taken away the two things her and Alice held dear. Will and Cyrus.

That was what brought them together. Losing the things most precious to them. They were the only two left now. They finally learned to trust each other, it took several months but the wounds healed and they had become friends of sorts.

She turned her head to look at the very dead body a few feet away from her and couldn't stop the bloody, triumphant smile that came to her face as she looked upon the dead body of her nemesis, the Vorpal sword plunged straight through her chest and head detached from her neck. It had been a struggle but she'd done it. She'd finally killed that god awful beast which had destroyed so many lives.

Destroyed her life. Destroyed Alice's.

 _Alice_. Her thoughts went back to the feisty woman once again. Her strength was incredible. After everything she'd been through she still held strong, still kept fighting to right the wrongs that she herself had caused. And most of all she'd given her a chance. She'd given her a chance to do the right thing, and was willing to fight her cause.

She couldn't put her finger on what had caused her to fall for the woman. She didn't even know if it was love, or just an attachment formed through their joint loneliness and loss. She was craving comfort and had found it in girl. But whatever it was, all she knew was that she'd fallen in something.

 _I hope she's okay_ she mused inwardly. The last she had seen of the woman she was engaging in battle with Jafar whilst she held off the Jabberwocky. But the Wocky got the upper hand, had knocked her down and went for Alice. She somehow recovered, jumped in front of Alice and into the beast shielding the girl from certain death. She can remember going airborne with the momentum of the run and well, now she was here, on the outskirts of the woods, bleeding out, all alone.

A shiver rippled through her body as the cold rain that had fallen upon her began to make itself known. Mix that with the blood loss and it wasn't a sensation she was fond of. Her life was ending as she always thought it would. Alone. No one there to hold her hand, to whisper sweet words as she passed on to whatever hell awaited her.

She shut her tired eyes waiting for the inevitable when heavy, hurried footsteps hit her ears. And the voice she so desperately wanted to hear one last time hit her ears. "Oh God Ana".

She forced her eyes to open and she was so glad that they did because her eyes met those wonderful green ones which were filled with worry and pain. She sent her a small smile, which probably ended up like a grimace but she didn't care. All she cared was that Alice was here and alive. "Is it done?" She croaked out, not noticing the blood in her mouth until it choked up her words and dribbled down the side of her face.

Alice nodded at her, her own face bruised and cut but she was alive and relatively unharmed. "He's dead… He can't hurt anyone anymore" Alice said kneeling down beside the blonde who even in her condition still looked beautiful. She put her hand over Ana's which rested on her torn stomach to try and stem some more of the precious life blood that was spilling haphazardly on the floor. But she knew it wouldn't help.

"That's good… We won Wonderland back" Ana said another smile coming to her face. Now she could be at peace. Her work was done. "Are you okay?" She stammered weakly clutching at Alice's hand which rested above hers.

Alice nodded at her giving the cold hand a squeeze. "I'm fine… I wouldn't be though… If it wasn't for you" Alice said slowly trying to hold herself together as she looked down on her broken friend. It should be her lying there, not Ana.

"It was nothing" Ana shrugged back her lips twitching upwards slightly.

"Nothing?" Alice questioned eyebrows raised. "You jumped in front of a raging Jabberwocky for me… Why? Why did you do it?" Alice asked. She knew the woman didn't have long but she needed to know why. She needed to know why Ana would do something so stupid and idiotic.

If there was one thing she'd learnt about the blonde was that she never acted out of haste. Everything she did was calculated. Everything she did had a reason, a genuine reason. There was only one conclusion she could come to. And she couldn't help but hope it was the same reason why Ana did what she did.

"Because out of the two of us… You're the one who deserves to live. You're the one who can rebuild Wonderland in the name of the people" She said looking up at girl her eyes stinging from the rain and tears.

Alice shook her head aghast at her words. "Don't say that. You deserve to live just as much as anyone. You killed the Jabberwocky. You're a hero" Alice said back her voice filled with passion as she spoke. She threaded her hand through the blonde's blood and rain matted hair.

"No… You are. You gave the people hope, when all I gave them was terror" She spoke more blood spilling from her mouth. "We both know this was the only way it could end Alice, I was just as much as a monster as Jafar. I had to pay for all the bad things that I did, and now I am" Ana replied not holding back as tears stung her eyes. She clutched at Alice's hand tighter, almost desperately.

"Stop saying that!" Alice practically barked her face now only inches from Ana's as she hovered over her shivering frame. "You were never a monster. You made bad choices yes, but haven't we all. And you paid the price a long time ago" Alice added slightly calmer now.

Ana didn't say anything in return. In truth she didn't know what to say. They just stared at each other, no more words needing to be spoken about that matter.

"I can't lose you… Without you I have nothing left" Alice said her voice nothing more than a whisper but her face was so close that Ana heard her clearly.

Ana just sent her a small smile and she weakly lifted her other hand and rested it on the girls warm cheek, unfazed by the blood that smeared onto the bruised cheek as she wiped away the stray tear that had fallen down Alice's face. "You have everything left Alice. You have Wonderland, you have friends. You'll forget about me in time… I'm not worth your tears" Ana spoke her voice rough as she felt herself slipping slowly into the abyss.

Alice shook her head fiercely as she untangled her hand from Anastasia's hair and placed it over the cold hand on her cheek. "Please stop saying that" She practically cried getting frustrated about how little Ana thought of herself. She wasn't a monster, she wasn't evil. She was actually a kind, funny, charismatic woman who had made a few terrible mistakes which ultimately had caused her demise. Of course she was worth her tears. She was her friend. She had saved her life. She was the woman she had somehow fallen in love with. And just like everyone she loved she was losing her.

"I would give all that up if it meant saving your life" Alice said conviction filling her voice and she vaguely registered an expression of shock flashing across the bruised and battered face of the fallen former Queen. "I can't lose you Ana. Without you, these last few months, I'd have never survived… You kept me going, kept me fighting, you gave me hope that perhaps…" She said stopping before even daring to continue her sentence.

The words were choked up in her throat and she struggled to get them out. She didn't know why she was fearing rejection, she'd lose the woman one way or another. It was now or never. "…That perhaps I could finally get a happy ever after" .

Ana's eyes widened slightly at the revelation. She felt the same. She reciprocated. The fleeting glances, the gentle hugs, the faint feather like touches as they breezed past each other. They weren't all in her head. They were real. "Oh Alice" She breathed pulling the girls head down so that their foreheads were touching. "I never thought I'd hear those words leave your mouth darling" She said a raspy, pain filled laugh escaping her lips.

"That's why I can't lose you. Not after Cyrus, after Will, I need you to help me rebuild this place" Alice said the tears falling freely now as she held the woman's face in her hands. Her skin was now freezing, the colour had all but left her face and her eyes were dropping slowly. "I can't do it alone. And I can't bear to lose another person that I… That I care for" She said her gaze never breaking from the woman beneath her. She wanted to say that she loved her, because she could clearly see that the woman felt the same but the words just couldn't leave her mouth.

"Yes you can… You can do it because you're Alice Kingsley, the woman who saved Wonderland" Ana replied her voice getting weaker and weaker. She was close, she was oh so close.

"And you can survive this… You're Anastasia. You're the Red Queen who fought to save her realm. Please don't leave me" Alice pleaded pulling her up into her lap, one arm under the woman's shoulder's and the other on her face.

"I wish I could Alice. I tr-truly do" She said her voice beginning to slur as her head swam with a darkness that was inching closer and pulling her under. And all of a sudden, dying didn't seem as much of a relief as it did earlier. She didn't want to go now. She didn't want to die. Not when she knew that the woman holding her loved her. "But I was never entitled to a happy ending… But knowing that you'll get yours one day. That b-brings some comfort" She said forcing a small smile onto her bloodied lips. "You have to let me go".

There was such a finality to the woman's voice that Alice could feel her will crumbling. More tears cascaded down her face and dripped onto Ana's face, mingling with the blonde's tears. Ana tilted her head slightly so that their faces were only a centimeter or two apart. And before she could do it Alice closed the gap between them capturing the older woman's lips with her own.

And at that very moment Anastasia felt more alive than she had for years.

Alice moved her lips against Ana's plump ones and reveled in the feel of them. Her body was cold, but her lips were warm and she could feel the passion oozing from her. It was tentative, gentle and she could taste their tears but that didn't matter. None of it mattered bar the woman in her arms.

No more words were needed. That kiss told the both of them exactly what they felt for one another.

The two broke apart and the air was filled with the patter of rain and their heavy breathing. Alice nuzzled the girls forehead with her own willing her to hold on but she knew it was a losing battle.

"Thank you" Ana whispered out as she brushed Alice's cheek. "Thank you for n-not leaving me to d-die alone" She added as her lids began to flicker shut. This was it. This was the end. "And for letting me k-know that somebody c-cares" She finished her eyes practically penetrating the woman's soul.

Alice nodded and smiled back at her planting another small chaste kiss on the blood stained lips. "I care. I think I always have" Alice got out mid sob as she watched as the former Queen's eyes rolled around in their sockets.

"Alice I… I lo-" Ana began but the words were lost, garbled by the blood in her throat. So she just sent the girl a small smile and finally she allowed the darkness to pull her in, succumbing to the endless abyss.

Alice felt the woman go limp in her arms and finally she broke. A heart wrenching sob escaped her lips and her body trembled with violent tremors. She keeled over, protecting Ana's cold, lifeless body with her own. She was gone. She was actually gone.

Sobs racked her frame as she looked at the woman's wonderful face. With a shaky hand she raised it to the woman's face and with one final glance at the beautiful blue eyes she pulled down her lids. "I hope you're at peace" She said sadly, more tears overcoming her shaking form. "I love you too Ana".

And in that woodland, covered in blood and soaked to the bone she came to the realisation. They had achieved victory. But it was a hollow one.

It was a harrowingly hollow one.

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 **So chapter 1 is up and running! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Let me know what you think guys, your words are always welcome.**


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